Thermal issues with battery charging

[AndyVaughan]

A bit of an odd one this!

On sunny days, my XL LIVE gets very warm to the touch when mounted to the windscreen, as you would expect from a device that is black and in full sunlight.

When this happens, the battery stops charging, and starts to discharge. At this point the green LED's on the charger and the device are still illuminated.

This has been noticeable with Navcore 9.053 as you now get an icon on the screen showing charging or battery state. It might have been happening all along, but without going through the menus to check the battery charge I wouldn't have known.

The device has not completely run out of power, but it has got to the point where the battery icon is showing amber and the battery is almost discharged.

Also, if I take the device straight from the car and plug in to the PC it still doesn't charge until it cools down a bit.

Anyone else experiencing anything similar as TT think I am mad and say that there is nothing wrong with the device as it still works and runs off of the battery. The fact that it isn't charging when connected to power doesn't seem to concern them at all!!!

[MrT]

Not had this on the TomTom but the Li battery on a SCSI card I use stops charging if the battery temperature rises above a certain level. This can be used to set an event or alarm. I think this is a safety feature. Where the outer plastic case of the old battery split, there were several ICs inside which I assume monitor the temperature. The inner metal case has a weakened area that will split if the pressure gets too high to stop the battery exploding.

I have seen on the TomTom Go940 the green light on but the battery not charging when the USB power cable was not fully pushed into the mount. It slides in part of the way and the green (or orange) LED comes on but when you go to the status screen the battery icon shows it is not charging, push the USB fully home in the mount and the battery icon shows it is charging. I am not sure why this happens as I would assume there are only two contacts supplying power, so whether part of one has something preventing a good current from being established.
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Drivelux

[AndyVaughan]

I fully understand the principle of a thermal cutout to prevent overheating, but it seems a bit odd that on sunny days in the UK this is kicking in - If I lived in a sunnier climate the device would never be charging in the car!

As for the USB cable being properly seated, the device is charging fine for a while until it gets sufficiently hot, so it isn't that. Plus, the first time I noticed this I reseated the charging cable a few times and it made no difference.

If no one else has noticed this then it points to a fault with my device, if others are experiencing similar then it points to being by design. Just interested to find out which as my Warranty runs out in about 2 weeks!!

[Saultee]

I had exactly the same as you described last week. At the time I just put it down to the inaccuracy of the battery status indicator but it did turn to amber bofre I arrived at my destination. By the time I used the TT again it had obviously cooled down and the device was charging.

Like you, I have only noticed it with Navcore 9.053. I am a bit dubious of that indicator as my device seems to use one hell of a lot more power since I updated to the latest Navcore ( the battery seems to last considerably less since the update!).

That said, my device is not exactly reliable at present!

[AndyVaughan]

I have a funny feeling that it is a hardware issue that wasn't apparent in previous Navcores - now battery and charging status are permanently visible you can't help but notice.

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